Well...that was a bit of an unintended break. And what can I use as an excuse? Busy with all those zucchinis, tomatoes and cucumbers that I last posted about? Enjoyed my times away camping so much that I couldn't bring myself to start using the computer again? Got lost in the garden and couldn't find my way out of the corn patch? Followed the wrong trail on my last hiking trip and never did find my way back?
Hmmm, no. Mostly just life, I guess. Life does have a way of whizzing by on us, doesn't it. I do SO love this time of year AND...I find it incredibly busy. An absolute whirlwind and I often feel like a whirling dervish (one who gratefully falls into bed each night, that is). We like to fit in as much beach time, camping time, hiking, company time, relaxing time as possible and, of course, there's The Garden. And all that entails - the garden takes priority at this time of year (and I'm forced to admit each year that I may have a s l i g h t issue with planting too much food. Ahem).
In any event, putting food by is a very important part of family life for me. There has been lots of harvesting, eating, freezing,eating, canning, eating, seed-saving (and did I mention the eating?!) as well as garden prep. for next year (Yay! for beautiful cover crops and a crash course in those).
So, my freezers are very full. My cold room is getting full. My boxes and boxes of canning jars are getting used up quickly. Slowly but surely parts of the garden are getting put to bed - there is beautiful fall-rye growing on a big part of next year's garden (I think I might have a bit of a crush on cover crops). And, I do believe, life might start easing to a little less of a whirl sometime soon - or whenever we get frost, at least. In the meantime I'm enjoying the absolute abundance that is available in this beautiful area we live in and feeling very grateful indeed (and I will also be feeling
very grateful once all this abundance is done ripening and is tucked away once and for all!). And then I'm looking forward to catching up here with photos of all that's been going on.
I do think my family starts to worry that maybe I've been dealing with too many tomatoes when I start playing with them and making them have conversations.
"Over 100 tomato plants?!? Is she crazy?"
"Oh, she's crazy, alright. And it isn't just the tomato plants. Just ask her husband. Poor fellah!"
